The "War of the Stoppers" and its myths

An intangible and invisible product whose look is distinctive from other products a consumer would associate
with the forest , cork has encountered, particularly since the 90s, attempts to substitute it with synthetic
stoppers and screw caps. The limitless global market seeks low-cost alternatives for mass consumption.

Cork has no competitors or alternatives in the plant world but for a while wine producers have had several
bottle-closing systems available to them.
Following the example of other natural products (silk, cotton, wood,
rubber...), cork suffers from substitution problems. As a natural product cork is heterogeneous, which
generates an inevitable variability in stopper quality.

The oenologist selects stoppers according to the advantages and inconveniences each one presents. The demands
are clear-cut: perfect ability to stem the flow of gas, absence of taste and pleasant aesthetics.

It is a war in which, hidden among the common denominator of the wine quality, lay contradictory protected
interests. Blasphemy or pragmatism, these initiatives may destroy the balance and the future of an entire ecosystem.